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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
In the distant city of Chammur, Briar and Rosethorn's work is interrupted by a gang war and the discovery of a young stone mage. This book is more successful than Magic Steps, thanks to the new, if not unproblematic, Arabian-inspired setting and better developed characters with more robust interactions (I especially love the way that Briar has internalized the influence of his fellow students). The larger plot is predictable and the villains overdrawn, but the climax, vast and violent, with evocative imagery, provides plenty of payoff. As a stand-alone, I would enjoy this. But the repetitive format of this quartet is already growing stale.
This quartet follows the four young mages from the Circle of Magic quartet as they go their separate ways and take on first students on their own. Briar, Daja, and Tris all go to distant lands and Tamora Pierce has some pretty interesting world building going on in these novels, which was really fun to read.
In the Circle of Magic quartet, Daja's Book and Briar's Book were by far and away my favorites, and I was pleased that this time I loved Daja's, Briar's, AND Tris's stories. My favorite new place was definitely Namorn (Daja's book, Cold Fire), and my favorite plot line was Tris's in Shatterglass.
Where the Circle of Magic quarter seemed to focus more on natural disasters and issues in a scale of mass destruction (forest fires, plagues, earth quakes, pirate attacks...), in this quartet Tammy turns her hand to what I can only relate to cozy mysteries. Each book has a sort of double-plot of each kid teaching their new student (or students), while also solving, helping to solve, or being somehow affected by strings of murders. Don't know if Tammy got her serial killer research on and felt inspired or what, but they definitely made for some interesting reading. Another really interesting part of these books was the explanation of the new crafts, especially the well-researched and beautifully detailed descriptions of glass-blowing in Shatterglass.
I was happy to see Tammy's writing has continued to improve over the years, and these books were much less painful than last month's of the Tortall books, but then again I was also reading these books for the first time, so getting caught up in the new stories could have been a part of that.
Reading these books has made me look forward again to seeing what Tamora Pierce will come up with next! =)
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder
Evvy (unsuprisingly) is my favourite student. Like, when an author manages to introduce a new character so late in a series who's so interesting that you wouldn't mind reading their own story you know they just work for you.
Also I've said this before: I LOVE BRIAR (and Rosethorn and especially their relationship).
Found family at it's purest and most precious.
Miiiinor critique would be that Briar felt a little too powerful but, hey, since this book wasn't meant to be about his humbling (I bet battle magic is gonna teach him and me a lesson in that regard), who really cares.
I just love his passion for the things he cares about. Like he's so straight-forward in his thinking. Where the girls will sometimes clearly lie to themselves or misinterpret their own feelings/actions/thoughts, Briar just feels fully aware of who he is and why. And because he has no patience for BS of any kind when it comes to other people, he also he has no time for BS when it comes to himself.
(Also every time he thinks about winding circle and the girls, my heart melts. he's so honest about how much he misses them and which role they play in his life.)
Also I've said this before: I LOVE BRIAR (and Rosethorn and especially their relationship).
Found family at it's purest and most precious.
Miiiinor critique would be that Briar felt a little too powerful but, hey, since this book wasn't meant to be about his humbling (I bet battle magic is gonna teach him and me a lesson in that regard), who really cares.
I just love his passion for the things he cares about. Like he's so straight-forward in his thinking. Where the girls will sometimes clearly lie to themselves or misinterpret their own feelings/actions/thoughts, Briar just feels fully aware of who he is and why. And because he has no patience for BS of any kind when it comes to other people, he also he has no time for BS when it comes to himself.
(Also every time he thinks about winding circle and the girls, my heart melts. he's so honest about how much he misses them and which role they play in his life.)
Stone magic, eh. I like Evy's pluck and Briar's protectiveness of her. When he tore down the lady's house to get to her. O.O
Edit: Added detail
I still can't believe lady Zenadia doa Atteneh could be so evil and that Ikrum WORSHIPED her! Like she was a Goddess!!!
I really hope that Evvy continues her education in both stone magic and general education. And that Briar survives having another prickly female mage around. lol :P
Edit:
I love this book. I like Evvy and Brian. I think they get along well. Evvy is also one of the only characters from the The Circle Open series (besides the main cast) that is in one or more of the Circle Reforged series books.
I really dislike Chammur. I hate how they treat the poor and how they coddle the rich. I was happy to see that the watchman had a female assistant since Briar pointed out that wasn't common.
Of all the magics I find plant magic and stone magic to be a bit boring. I mean it's not playing with lighting or fire! But it was still fun to read about Briar again.
Edit: May 2022
I always love the part where Briar saves Evvy. He is a fantastic teacher and friend. I also love how Evvy didn't wait to be saved and used her minor knowledge about her ability to help herself.
It ended up being good the camelguts/vipers were ignorant though as otherwise Evvy might not have been able to help herself as much as she did.
I'm very glad the lady killed herself. I wish she had had a worse punishment but at least she died. I wonder how the Emperor would have punished her anyway? Maybe just the way she died? With poison?
I'm not sure I like how easy the camelguts switched to the vipers after so many of them were injured and then died by them. Also the poor Gate Lord tesku. I don't feel terrible for him but I do feel bad that he and many others were 'fertilizing' the trees in the lady's garden.
I love how Rosethorn scared Hooba Jooba into taking Evvy as a student but I'm also glad he didn't end up being her teacher. Briar and Rosethorn are much better. They even let her keep her cats!
Edit: Added detail
I still can't believe lady Zenadia doa Atteneh could be so evil and that Ikrum WORSHIPED her! Like she was a Goddess!!!
I really hope that Evvy continues her education in both stone magic and general education. And that Briar survives having another prickly female mage around. lol :P
Edit:
I love this book. I like Evvy and Brian. I think they get along well. Evvy is also one of the only characters from the The Circle Open series (besides the main cast) that is in one or more of the Circle Reforged series books.
I really dislike Chammur. I hate how they treat the poor and how they coddle the rich. I was happy to see that the watchman had a female assistant since Briar pointed out that wasn't common.
Of all the magics I find plant magic and stone magic to be a bit boring. I mean it's not playing with lighting or fire! But it was still fun to read about Briar again.
Edit: May 2022
I always love the part where Briar saves Evvy. He is a fantastic teacher and friend. I also love how Evvy didn't wait to be saved and used her minor knowledge about her ability to help herself.
It ended up being good the camelguts/vipers were ignorant though as otherwise Evvy might not have been able to help herself as much as she did.
I'm very glad the lady killed herself. I wish she had had a worse punishment but at least she died. I wonder how the Emperor would have punished her anyway? Maybe just the way she died? With poison?
I'm not sure I like how easy the camelguts switched to the vipers after so many of them were injured and then died by them. Also the poor Gate Lord tesku. I don't feel terrible for him but I do feel bad that he and many others were 'fertilizing' the trees in the lady's garden.
I love how Rosethorn scared Hooba Jooba into taking Evvy as a student but I'm also glad he didn't end up being her teacher. Briar and Rosethorn are much better. They even let her keep her cats!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Continuing with the Circle as they branch out, this time we follow Briar. I always really liked Briar. He stands out as the only boy in the Circle and he has the most type of magic that fantasy often decides is feminine (plant magic with knowledge of healing and medicines), and that's always something that really made me like him.
Briar's older now than he was before, and he's really matured over the years. It really shows that his time with Rosethorn has really changed him (for the better). It really makes him a great protagonist to follow. He's not the only protagonist though, as we get Evvy, who happens to be his student. Like Sandry, he's reluctant to become a teacher.
Evvy's a great addition to the cast. I really enjoyed her, as well as her and Briar's dynamic together. I kind of prefer her to Pasco from the previous book, if I'm being honest. Plus, she comes equipped with cats and cats are awesome.
The storyline to this book is another great one. It relates to Briar's past in that its street gang related, and that's one of the things that helps show Briar's growth from when we first saw him in Sandry's Book.
Overall, another great Circle book and another favourite.
Briar's older now than he was before, and he's really matured over the years. It really shows that his time with Rosethorn has really changed him (for the better). It really makes him a great protagonist to follow. He's not the only protagonist though, as we get Evvy, who happens to be his student. Like Sandry, he's reluctant to become a teacher.
Evvy's a great addition to the cast. I really enjoyed her, as well as her and Briar's dynamic together. I kind of prefer her to Pasco from the previous book, if I'm being honest. Plus, she comes equipped with cats and cats are awesome.
The storyline to this book is another great one. It relates to Briar's past in that its street gang related, and that's one of the things that helps show Briar's growth from when we first saw him in Sandry's Book.
Overall, another great Circle book and another favourite.
Re-read. I liked this one better than the first in this series, but it still felt somehow incomplete, probably because the charm of the Emelan series' for me is the relationship between Tris, Sandry, Daja, and Briar. I definitely think it would have been nice to see Briar adjusting to being a teacher more in this, but that was not to be.
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
5/5 in terms of YA books. Somewhere around a 3.75/5 in the grand scheme of things for me. There are some points in the story that I feel could have been cut or shortened.
The scene where the tiles get replaced is a banger for any age group. And the ending is freaking fantastic.
The scene where the tiles get replaced is a banger for any age group. And the ending is freaking fantastic.